Cortical maturation in children using cochlear implants: analysis of electrophysiological and behavioral measures

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Children with severe premalignant hearing loss (SPHL) present an alteration of the maturational process of the central auditory nervous system (CANS) and a decrease in the auditory pathways of the CANS, leading to impairments in the development of oral language. In this scenario, the cochlear implant (CI) is an important clinical resource for the maturational process of the CANS. The evaluation of the integrity and functionality of such a process can be evaluated through Long-Latency Auditory Evoked Potentials (LLAEP) in conjunction with evaluation of the behavioral measures of hearing and language. PURPOSE: to evaluate longitudinally the findings of cortical maturation in children using HF, through electrophysiological measures and behavioral measures of hearing and language. METHODS: longitudinal study of 22 children with SPHL, HF users and previous study participants (Silva et al., 2015) who will undergo LLAEP examination and standard protocols of behavioral hearing and language evaluation. RESULTS ANALYSIS: will be performed by means of appropriate statistical tests based on the comparison of the results of the present research with those obtained in a previous study. (AU)